Idaho’s Saunders & Ireland Headline 2011
Reno Rodeo Invitational Ladies Only Roping
By Kendra Santos
Special To Ropers Sports News
The winners of the fifth annual Reno Rodeo Invitational Ladies Only Roping got a serious pay raise, and the Idaho team of Tracie Saunders and Lori Ireland were the biggest beneficiaries. The champs’ checks totaled $30,000 this year, up from an already impressive $20,000 in years past.
“I like ladies, and they love to rope too,” said RRI Ladies Only Producer Perry Di Loreto. “They’re competitive, and they should be rewarded for all their hard work. I’d like to see this thing continue to grow.”
Of course he would. Di Loreto has never been a status-quo kind of guy. Neither is his RRI Event Coordinator daughter, Teresa Di Loreto-Long, who works tirelessly behind the scenes to make RRI week a second-to-none roping experience. Every contestant at this year’s RRI Ladies Only received a gift bag that included a Wrangler vest, Wrangler buy two, get one free certificate, Team Equine certificate and D-Bar-M certificate.
Saunders and Ireland bested the 125-team field, which gathered June 22 at the Reno Livestock Events Center to complete Reno’s one-two-three roping trifecta of the Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic, Reno Rodeo Invitational and RRI Ladies Only, by roping four steers in 42.56 seconds. After making three clean runs in the first three rounds, Saunders and Ireland entered the short round in the second high call-back position. Their 12.77-second run on their last steer, which included five seconds for a leg, sealed the deal for the pair of USTRC No. 5 ropers after the high team went out.
“We were just solid,” said header Saunders, who lives in Homedale, Idaho, with her husband, Brian, and son, Sammy, who’s 4. “We were two 10s, a 9, then 12. We basically made the same run every time. Riding in to run our last one, we knew a practice run would win no less than second, and that’s a great check.”
Di Loreto’s plan riding into the event was to pay eight places in the four-steer average. But when nine teams qualified for the short round by roping their first three steers, Di Loreto stepped up and pledged an additional $1,200 to the average payoff, so every team was guaranteed at least their entry fees back.
“When they announced that everybody was going to get a check, I relaxed a little,” said Ireland, who lives in Mountain Home, Idaho, with her husband, Jake, and has a 7-year-old stepson, Jeb. “I was hoping to catch two feet, but was happy with one.”
It was Saunders’ third RRI Ladies Only, and she’s won money in the rich roping all three years. “This win ranks at the top of my roping career,” she said. “I always said if I won the Ladies Only I’d set aside the money to enter Perry’s big roping (the Reno Rodeo Invitational) the next year.”
“This is definitely at the top,” Ireland agreed. “This is the most money I’ve ever won at a roping. Tracie and I grew up together and junior rodeoed together. I’m very confident roping behind her. She handles steers great and never misses.”
Saunders and Ireland live an hour apart and six hours from Reno. “It’s been great,” Saunders said. “This roping is so much fun. I work and have a family, so I don’t get to travel and compete much anymore. I used to rope a lot, but now my son comes first.
“I’m thankful that I have a good and close family. My sister-in-law (Melinda McDaniel) was fifth high call yesterday (in the RRI, and also won the Ladies Only two-steer average with Marcia Eiguren, who’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo header Richard’s wife). We come as a family and have a lot of fun. I think it’s cool that I won it on my dad’s horse. My mom (Julie) and dad have been very good to me.”
Saunders, who works with emotionally disturbed kids at an elementary school, rode her dad’s 11-year-old sorrel head horse, Rookie. “My dad (Ken McDaniel) trains horses and has always kept me in good supply,” smiled Saunders, who said they practiced for two weeks at her brother’s (Chad McDaniel’s) place in Caldwell, “so we could meet in the middle.”
Saunders says consistency pays at the RRI Ladies Only, and immediately ear-tagged the money for home improvements. “If you catch all of your steers, they pay you good money,” she said. “My house is going to get new siding, so I’m excited about that. That’s why I roped so hard.”
Rookie, that special head horse Saunders rode, was hit by a truck a few years ago and broke his jaw, so his teeth don’t match up anymore and he needs special dental care. Luckily for Rookie, he’s got a good dentist in Ireland. “They usually bring strong steers that can run to this roping,” Saunders said. “But I never have to worry about getting outrun on him. He can score and blow up on one.”
Ireland’s roped at all five RRI Ladies Only ropings. She didn’t place at the first two, but has won something the last three years. “This is a great win for me,” she said. “I’m an equine dentist. I travel all over the country and beyond, from Canada to Florida, so the month of June is the only time I get to compete. Most of my work’s in California, so I’m on the road a lot.”
Ireland rode her gray heel horse, Twitch, who’s 14. She’s had him five years, but didn’t get to ride him at the RRI Ladies Only last year because he had a torn suspensory ligament. “I just brought him back a month ago,” she said. “He’s just solid anywhere I take him. I don’t ever have to worry about him. He makes the same run every time, so all I have to concentrate on is my roping.”
That they both did, and they were one of three teams to rope all four steers. Reservists Tammy White of Los Osos, Calif., and Tammy Lewis of Queen Creek, Ariz., who roped four in 46.49 seconds, and the third-place team of Texans Tibba Smith and Lari Dee Guy, who drew the flag four times in 55.18 seconds, won $15,000 and $6,000, respectively.
Every team that enters the RRI Ladies Only makes it to a short round, even if they don’t catch any of their first three steers. Young guns Julie Blach and Ali Bilkey won the one-steer bonus average with a 6.2-second run for $1,500. Marcia Eiguren and Melinda McDaniel won the two-steer bonus average in 14.36 seconds for $2,250. Amy Williams and Kera Washburn topped the three-steer bonus average with three runs done in 29.51 seconds for $3,500.
Per Perry’s plan, the RRI Ladies Only continues to grow and prosper. “This is an amazing roping,” Saunders said. “It’s a great atmosphere, and we get to run for a lot of money. What an opportunity.”
“Everybody’s cheering everybody on, which is so great,” Ireland added. “And there are so many opportunities to win money here. I have no idea what I’m going to do with all this money. What a great problem to have.”
2011 Reno Rodeo Ladies Only Team Roping Results:
1st. Go-Round: 1st. Amy Williams and Kera Washburn, 8.01, $1,500. 2nd. Barbara Kenney and Nikki Jo Watkins, 8.52, $1,250. 3rd. Brooke Fry and Summer Tex, 8.92, $1,000. (The winners of the first three rounds received King’s Saddlery gift certificates; the top three teams were awarded Rogers Cowboy Supply travel packs.)
2nd. Go-Round: 1st. Tammy White and Tammy Lewis, 7.13, $1,500. 2nd. Debbie Robbins and Danielle Lowman, 7.41, $1,250. 3rd. Amy Williams and Kera Washburn, 7.71, $1,000.
3rd. Go-Round: 1st. Jordan Jo Fabrizio and Debbie Fabrizio, 5.67, $1,500. 2nd. Robin Rowley and Tess Harrer, 6.86, $1,250. 3rd. Marcia Eiguren and Melinda McDaniel, 7.31, $1,000.
Short Go-Round: 1st. Tracie Saunders and Lori Ireland, 12.77, $2,000. 2nd. Tammy White and Tammy Lewis, 13.19, $1,750. 3rd. Tibba Smith and Lari Dee Guy, 13.49, $1,500.
1-Steer Average: 1st. Julie Blach and Ali Bilkey, 6.20, $1,500.
2-Steer Average: 1st. Marcia Eiguren and Melinda McDaniel, 14.36, $2,250. 2nd. Macy Fuller and Serena Dahozy, 15.82, $2,000. 3rd. Renee Paetsch and
